With the Nintendo 3DS handheld out in less than 2 months, many gamers will be asking themselves whether to buy or wait for the 2nd generation of the device. And who can blame them? Look at the DS which got multiple design updates and improvements.

But according to Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, the 3DS will be undergoing no such revisions. The reason? There just isn’t any room for manoeuvre inside the device.

In the latest Iwata Asks Q&A the “make it thinner” request from gamers over the years is discussed. Changes in materials used and the miniaturization of components has made that possible in previous generations of hardware. But when it comes to the 3DS, that’s not the case. Iwata explains:

The first thing (Nobuo) Nagai-san (Nintendo General Manager, Manufacturing Division), who’s in charge at the Uji plant, said to me when he looked over the designs for Nintendo 3DS before mass production began was “This time it’s fully packed right from the start.”

There is therefore no “short-term” plan to make a more compact version of the 3DS. Iwata adds:

That’s why we don’t have any short-term plans for creating a more compact version of Nintendo 3DS like we did with Nintendo DS Lite.

So unless some major material breakthrough happens, or several of the components in the 3DS, which are already as compact as can be, somehow get smaller, the 3DS will remain in its launch configuration going forward.

So this isn’t just Iwata trying to get us to buy a 3DS now rather than waiting. What he’s saying is, every component in the 3DS is as small as it can be at the moment, but at the same time there is no space left inside the device. In other words, if one of those components is miniaturized further it doesn’t matter, it would take several components to get smaller before they could even think about making the 3DS more compact.

Even if such compacting happens, and soon, Nintendo won’t update the 3DS for at least 12 months in my opinion. So the choice really comes down to: do I want to own a 3DS before the middle of 2012 or not? And even if you wait it may just be new colors you get the option of, not a thinner device.